Percy and Archaea
by peanutbutterzx
Summary: Percy and Annabeth was taking a stroll in the forest when they were ambushed by a group of monsters. The supposedly easy fight took a quick downturn when percy turned around only to find annabeth missing..


**(A/N) Rick Riordan owns all of the characters.**  
**This story is supposedly when the 7 are in camp half blood after they had assembled, Percy has not lost his mark of Achilles and Frank had told him he was to make a important decision but did not mention with his help. Its my first and maybe last story, just something i did when i was bored (at 12am) so try not to go to hard on me! (: ****Rated K.**

Percy was tired.

It was almost an hour since he and annabeth got ambushed by a nest of spiders. They were initially planning to take a stroll along the creek but got carried away chatting and ended up taking another direction. They were at the deep end of the forest when big hairy spiders started to crawl out from a deep hole one after the other, surrounding them.

The spiders were 5 feet tall each with black beady eyes that stared at them hungrily. They had pincers that were a foot long and dripping with wet, gooey green liquid at the ends. Annabeth let out a small yelp and turned a shade so pale Percy thought he'd might be able to see through her skin if he concentrated hard enough.

He uncapped riptide. "Now this is when you need me the most." He said while pressing down a smirk. He knew Annabeth, being a child of Athena, had arachnophobia bad enough to give him half-moon tattoos whenever a spider decided to make an appearance.

"Shut up seaweed brain." annabeth turned long enough to give her deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare before returning to face the monsters.

"Let's not waste more time" Percy drew his sword and started hacking and slashing at the 8-legged monsters. Now, percy has seen many tarantulas in his life, but these furry monsters were honestly huge. Arachne must have made babies of all sizes and hid a nest in here knowing that there were a bunch of Athena kids nearby. Unfortunately their enlarged body just makes it easier to see the ugly features. Thinking about it made him realize how terrifying it must be for annabeth.. He decided to step up his pace.

Killing the monsters was easy if you were quick enough to slice off its head before it managed to spit a clump of web into your face. Although bearing the mark of Achilles made Percy invulnerable, he would prefer it if he didn't have to wipe chunks of webs off his face before slicing the monsters into kebabs.

45 minutes has passed and more spiders seem to be emerging from the endless hole. Percy thought about how deep the hole could be, maybe it lead straight into the lair of Arachne, with ten times the amount of spiders bigger than these. Whatever lies under there, percy didn't want to know. He was getting tired and would have called a tidal wave to wash away all the monsters if not for the fact that annabeth would be washed away with them too. And she wouldn't like that.

"Ah!" Percy heard annabeth scream somewhere behind him, followed by a thud. He whipped around just in time to see nothing but the hole where the spiders were emerging.

"No!"

Panic swirled inside him. What he thought was just a minor fight with a couple of unusually huge spiders seemed to be turning into something more serious. He surged on, taking down the spiders a few at a time. Finally, he hacked the head off the last spider, black liquid spluttered out onto the grass patch around him, burning patches of grass. Spiders did not seem to be emerging for the moment but Percy could sense that there were more starting to make its way up. All he could think was to reach Annabeth out before the reinforcements did.

Without thinking, he dove into the hole, landing on his foot. Steadying himself, he stood up and found himself facing a cavern the size of the big house. The whole place was filled with webs that seemed to be supporting the roof. Bad news is, the roof looked worn out and ready to cave in at the slightest amount of pressure. Percy could tell that the webs seem to be the only thing holding up the cavern walls. The opposite end of the cavern was a hole where there seems to be more spiders coming through. The place smelt sickly sweet, with an evil aura that seems to radiate throughout the cavern.

"Annabeth!" he shouted.

No reply.

Instead he was greeted by an even bigger sized spider that was perched on the ceiling of the cavern. It's 4 beady eyes bored into him. "You'll never find her," It sounded vaguely like a woman, yet not. More like someone that was previously a woman.

"Arachne?"

"No! I am the great Archaea! One of Arachne's greatest generals." The monster boomed.

"Archaea… as in the microorganism that is found in gingivitis?" Percy frowned.

"No…"

"Yes…."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Yes! ..No! … I have no idea what that is! But microorganism or not I was named first!" She shrieked.

"Suit yourself." Percy shrugged, trying scan the cave for signs of Annabeth.

"Ah, but I've been given orders from my mother to capture you demigods if I get the chance. Now seeing that I have you two, surely I will be greatly rewarded. More flies for me!" She said with a blob of green liquid bubbling down her pincers.

"Or maybe my mother will finally recognize my weaving talent and employ me to assist her."

Percy looked around at the cavern, noticing for the first time that the walls were filled with tapestries. However he couldn't make out what they were. One of them was what seemed to be a half a sunflower; another showed a somewhat normal letter 'X'. Although why she would want to do something that easy Percy didn't know. "So you want your mother to recognize your weavng of a sunflower."

"No! Those are a bunch of bananas! ….and a pair of scissors!" She waved her front legs in exasperation, making her look like she had just done the Macarena. "Oh. Maybe that's why she didn't pick you." He commented.

"FOOL! How dare you insult my tapestries!" Her voice sounded across the cavern, small bits of rocks started to fall from the ceiling. "Nevertheless! Death shall not delay. You and your girlfriend will never leave this place! Gaia shall witness a mere general of the great Arachne finish the job the giants. You shall be trapped under the earth and be captured by mother earth herself. Now perish and let me be rewarded!

"Mere general?"

But if the spider heard, she did not pay attention, she immediately tore down the web that supported the cavern ceiling and scuttled away quickly into the hole in the opposite end of the room. Mounds of rocks were starting to crumble without the previous support. The whole cavern shook like an earthquake had just struck. Percy knew he only had seconds before the whole cavern collapsed on him and Annabeth. He cried her name and searched frantically around the area, trying to keep desperation from overcoming he there was no sign of her.

_No, this cant be happening. After all we've been through._ 'Defeated by a mere microorganism' was not what Percy expected to happen after killing the titan lord Kronos himself. Anger and pain surged through him as he realized he had to make a run for the entrance or he wouldn't make it out in time. But Annabeth was still somewhere inside. He knew if he couldn't save her, he had enough time to save himself. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not when they had finally reunited after 8 months. The thought of him losing her again was just too much. He had to save her.

_A decision you can't make._ Something frank had mentioned briefly when he was speaking to Percy the other day. Was this it? The big decision?

Chunks of rocks were beginning to fall from the ceiling. Percy knew he was running out of time. A large part of him knew until the last second, he wasn't going to leave the cave without taking Annabeth with him.

_Losing 1 of the 7 is better than losing 2, the world needs you; _A small voice at the back of his head chided him. Aside from that, he was supposed to make a tough decision he couldn't make. Rocks were falling all around him. The cave was going to finish burying itself in a matter of seconds. He had to act fast.

Thinking about how he let Annabeth down, Percy hated himself for not being able to save her. Of all people, he couldn't save the one person he loved. Percy bolted for the exit, which was now partially covered in rocks. Tears streamed down his face as he forced himself to press on without looking back. Memories and flashbacks of the times he spent together with Annabeth flashed before him. The kiss before he faced the telkhines, eating blue cupcakes and watching fireworks together, the moment he saw her after 8 months, many times he had caught himself staring at her. Random yet memorable moments where they were holding hands, just being together.

Then he tripped.

He quickly caught a glimpse of what he fell over on – nothing. Wait, that didn't make sense. He steadied himself, accidentally pushing something off – A Yankees cap.

"Annabeth!" he cried. A shape of a young woman shimmered into appearance. Her body was limp and covered in green acid. A wave of relief washed over him. Wasting no time, he lifted her up and sprinted towards the exit. All that was left was hole no longer than a metre. Another clump of ceiling above the exit started to fall. Panic surged through him.

Black dots danced before his eyes in effort to carry both of them to safety. "No!" Percy pressed forward with all his strength. He reached the exit and managed to haul both of them through just a second after the last rock fell into place, sealing the entrance of the cavern. Panting heavily, he put her down and examined her. She didn't look too good. Her whole body was covered in webs and cuts, a big gush on the side of her face was oozing with blood, filling majority of her face with bloodstains. A bruise the size of an apple was on her forehead and the green liquid was slowly burning patches into her skin. Percy didn't realize how much damage the monsters were actually inflicting on them as he had the curse of archilles and he didn't have any ambrosia or nectar with him.

In one swift movement he quickly scooped her up and ran as fast as he could towards the big house.

"Hang in there wise girl."

Annabeth groaned awake.

"Why'd you jump in? That's a terrible plan".

"To lead them away from you seaweed brain… stupid question" she croaked in reply.

A warm feeling spread through Percy's chest.

He held back his emotions and tightened his grip on her, calling on water to assist him as he surged forward towards the big house.

There was no way he was going to lose her.


End file.
